


The Memories Of Others

by Valentine20xx



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:26:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23704579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto, and is used without permission.The original story, Memories Of Others, was a story where Naruto ended up as an independent Genin due to a complete misunderstanding of Kakashi seemingly rejecting him, causing him to end up causing a domino effect which rippled through the Naruto narrative afterwards. This also caused the story to abruptly peter out, as Naruto became too powerful too quickly.With my version, I already have plans for how to deal with the power-creep, including that I have a fun idea of how to rewrite Tobi, that will cause ripples the opposite way...
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	The Memories Of Others

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Memories Of Others](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27879606) by [TheBeardedOne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeardedOne/pseuds/TheBeardedOne). 



Naruto was in shock. Mizuki had just told him he was the demon fox that had caused the devastation of the village, that there was a specific law forbidding telling him that. Not long later, he figured out there was something inherently wrong about how Mizuki had interpreted it.

Never mind that Mizuki effectively broke the law, as he interpreted it, by shooting his mouth off. However, none of that mattered in that moment, as he looked at Mizuki’s beaten and broken body, literally ran over by hundreds of Naruto.

"Ahahahaha, I… kinda got a bit carried away…" He explained weakly as Iruka limped over. The clones started to vanish as Iruka stopped before Naruto.

"Close your eyes." Iruka stated before he smiled.

"Huh?" Naruto offered, confused.

"Trust me," Iruka offered. Naruto closed his eyes and felt his goggles being gently removed from his forehead, then something was tied on in its place. Slowly reaching up, his nervously questing fingers found a fabric band an on that band, a metal plate.

The plate wasn't newly-minted like those he had seen on those class-mates of his who had graduated, but the edges of the inscribed leaf were still easily felt by his fingertips and the edges of the plate, although nicked and slightly scarred, were still solid.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and saw Iruka smiling proudly at him, his forehead bare of the Hitai-ate that now adorned Naruto's brow. Naruto blinked before asking, "You… I…?"

"Congratulations, Genin Naruto." Iruka said gently. "You are a true ninja of Konoha now, and of all my class, I am the most proud of you."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled at the scene in the crystal ball on the desk in front of him, then he reached out and placed the official stamp on a piece of paperwork that he had been filling out while watching the events unfold.

"Well done, Naruto-kun." He whispered quietly. "You've taken your first step to achieving your goal."

The piece of paper on the desk was placed into a small folder. As it vanished, the words at the top were briefly highlighted by the lamp in the corner of the room. The nature of that one piece of paper would, in the years that followed, change the world...

_**Form 451979: Confirmation Of Field Promotion In Peacetime** _

**_Subject:_ Naruto Uzumaki**

**_Promotion Type:_ Promoted To Genin (012607)**

**_Promoting Officer:_ Senior Chunin Umino Iruka (011850)**

**_Seconded By:_ Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen (000261)**

The following morning, Naruto woke up with a huge smile on his face as he opened his eyes to see, placed on the small wooden box that served as his bedside table, the slightly-battered-and-scratched Hitai-Ate that confirmed beyond all doubt that the events of the previous night hadn't been a dream.

He had become a ninja, and, in just one week, a mere seven days, he would be assigned a team of his own, letting him prove just how totally awesome he was!

...As long as he wasn't teamed up with Sasuke, that broody bastard…

Naruto shook his head to clear away the depressing thought. Taking a deep breath of morning air (and he really needed to get tht window fixed), he bounced out of bed, before scampering into the bathroom to shower, then he paused and created a clone.

"Head to the kitchen and make me some breakfast," He commanded and the clone nodded.

"Okay, but hurry up," The clone retorted.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the clone, then turned the tap to switch on the shower. Shedding his pajamas, he jumped into the shower cubicle…

"COOOOOLD!" He cried out, while the clone snickered as it switched the kettle on, and began preparing some chicken ramen, before dispelling itself.

At the same time, Naruto finished tossing on his orange jacket.

"Mmmm, Chicken Ramen." He smiled, then he paused, "Hey, how did I know that?"

For a moment, Naruto frowned, then he shrugged. "Meh, maybe I smelled it. Ah, whatever. Time to eat!"

Pausing to adjust the small sigil on his shoulder, Naruto bounced into the kitchen to devour the rameny goodness awaiting him. "Itadakimasu! Mmmmmm!"

A short time later, Naruto stepped out of his apartment into the beginning of a brand new start. Notably, he didn’t lock the door, which was explained a few minutes later when another Naruto stepped out, this one holding a bag of rubbish in it’s free hand.

"We'll have the apartment tidied up by the time you get back, Boss," The clone stated with a grin.

"Good," Naruto nodded, mentally noting how useful Kage Bunshin were, "Now if there was only some way to get some decent food…"

"Blasphemy!" The clone gasped. "Ramen is the food of the Thousand Kami!"

“OK, Some better quality ramen, alright?” He offered as he chuckled in agreement, then turned to continue his interrupted journey, "I'm going to have a walk round, maybe visit the old man to ask who's on my team… and why am I even telling you that? You're me!"

The clone laughed. "We'll get things done for you. Good luck with our team… maybe Sakura-chan'll be on it. As long as the teme isn't, she might stop hitting us!"

"That would be amazing!" Naruto said dreamily, then he turned and walked towards the stairs, "Wish me luck, me,"

"Good luck!" Three of the clones chorused and Naruto left, chuckling.

Three hours later, his good mood had almost vanished, although the average (non-ninja) observer wouldn't have been able to tell. Whenever he walked near a crowd, he would hear whispers along the lines of "How could they let IT become a ninja?" or "It won't be long before that THING snaps and goes on a killing spree."

Before then, he thought it was just them being annoyed at his pranks, but now he knew. They had known all along about his burden, but had put the same interpretation on it as Mizuki had, that he was just a fox disguised as a human, and was planning their death in secret.

Turning, Naruto strode through the entrance of the Hokage Tower and scampered up the stairs, musing that, if they kept up that kind of opinion, it would be sooner rather than later, and it wouldn’t be due to the fox.

"Heya Jiji!" He called and his adoptive grandfather looked up from the paperwork he was perusing with a smile that lightened Naruto's heart.

"Naruto, it's good to see you." He said as he waved for Naruto to take a seat. "So, what brings Konoha's newest Genin into my office today?"

“I was wondering about…” He began.

“Mizuki completely misinterpreted the decree, a misinterpretation that has been spread throughout the village…” The Hokage offered, “It was forbidden to speak of it at all, but, once the information got out, it was decided by the village elders, against my wishes, to just not tell you personally...”

“So, instead they speak crap about me and beat me up, but hey, it’s fine since he’s the demon brat!” Naruto snapped, sighing before relaxing, “It’s messed up...”

“I sometimes wonder what would have happened if…” Sarutobi stated, pausing before asking, “Anything else?”

"Well, I was wondering who was going to be on my team." Naruto admitted. "I'm sure you'd just love to give me the hat and all, but even I know that's not gonna happen yet."

"Very true." Hiruzen agreed gravely, although Naruto caught the gleam of laughter in the old Shinobi's eyes. "The teams are still being arranged and the Jonin-Senseis assigned to them,"

"Cool." Naruto breathed, then he frowned. "So that means…?"

"That I can't tell you what the teams are right now, only a vague idea," Hiruzen supplied, "You know, in just one week you'll know which team you are going to be assigned to and who your Jonin-Sensei will be,"

"As long as I get an awesome one, it'll be cool!" Naruto exclaimed, then he blinked as a blur deposited even more paperwork on Hiruzen's desk.

"Why don't you head out to get your official photo taken for the files." Hiruzen suggested. "And tomorrow, after you bring the photo and I approve it, I'll take you out for some celebratory Ramen."

"You're the greatest, Jiji!" Naruto exulted, his previous good mood fully restored. "One awesome pic coming right up!"

Hiruzen laughed as Naruto bounced out of the office, then sighed as he looked at the top sheet of paperwork.

“What would have been better? Iwa and such wanting the boy dead, but the village supporting him, or this?” He mused, “If they’d leaked his parents, that would have been an acceptable leak, and would have him dealing with other problems, ones I can solve...”

He paused, half-reading the paperwork. “I reveal his parentage and they’ll spin it in some way that still makes him look like a monster…”

He went to a file, looking at it. “Kakashi, If it wasn’t for the fact you asked specifically for Naruto… Kami, give me some way that I can make up for all I allowed to happen...”

What he didn’t expect was what his simple request would cause.

"So… how do I find where to get the photo?" Naruto muttered to himself as he walked down the main street.

"Naruto?" He heard, looking round to see who had called him, his gaze coming to rest on a familiar dark-haired girl who was staring at him from beside a taller, red-eyed woman with longer midnight-black curly hair. A brief moment's thought brought up the younger girl's name.

"Heya, Hinata!" Naruto called as he jogged over, grinning hugely as he pointed at his Hitai-ate. "I made it! I'm a ninja too!"

"I heard about that." The taller woman said and Naruto gave her a curious look. "I'm Jonin Yuhi Kurenai."

"Hey, Cool!" Naruto replied. "Genin Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage!"

Hinata giggled, then gave a small bow. "Probationary Genin Hyuuga Hinata, Honored to meet you."

"Wait." Naruto said, "Probar… probee…probanana… a whatsit genin? I thought you passed?"

"The others who passed the Academy exam are all currently probationary genin, they will become full genin when they are taken as students by a Jonin-sensei." Kurenai explained. "You were granted a field promotion, so even if you don't get a Jonin-Sensei, you'll still be an official genin and able to take missions."

Hinata gave Naruto an awed look and his grin grew wider, as he realised he might not even need a team.

‘Beat that, teme!’ he thought, while declaring, "Yep, I'm awesome. So, whatcha doing? No-one gets a team 'till next week, so why are…?"

"We are going to be working on my chakra control." Hinata said quietly. "I need to build up my reserves."

"Chakra control." Naruto groaned. "That's my weak point, I blew up the leaf last time I tried!"

Kurenai’s eyebrow raised. That wasn’t in Naruto’s file, and with what he’d just told her, she had a free allowance to help him however she wished.

"It sounds like you almost certainly have too much chakra." Kurenai mused. "If you wish, I can teach you a new exercise that should be fairly easy for you, then you can work your way back down to leaf floating."

"So, training?" Naruto exclaimed. "Count me in! Umm, if that's okay with you, Hinata. I mean, she is your teacher, right?"

"It's fine!" Hinata squeaked, turning red and Naruto grabbed her shoulders.

"Hinata, you're turning red! Are you getting a fever? Let me check your temperat… ARGH! Kurenai! Hinata's collapsed!"

"She'll be fine." Kurenai smiled, knowing exactly what had happened, "However, if I can ask a favor…"

Naruto gave Kurenai a quizzical look. "Favor?"

"Well, it's a bit of a walk to the practice grounds…" Kurenai suggested, “Now, bend yourself forward slightly, and put your arms behind your back… further apart...”

Once he’d got into position, she slid Hinata onto his back. “Let’s go!”

Hinata felt herself returning to consciousness, as she heard “...and this is where we are going to practice...”

She was clearly being carried on someone’s back, and she initally thought it was Kurenai, but the hair she felt against the side of her face was all wrong for her.

"Wow, cool place." Naruto's voice said and Hinata frowned mentally. It wasn't Kurenai who was carrying her and Naruto was nearb…

Hinata's thoughts hiccuped to a stop as she realized that it was Naruto who was carrying her, but before she could do anything, Naruto was speaking again.

"Let me put Hinata down… Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He declared, and a wave of chakra seemed to flow through Hinata, engulfing her in a feeling of protectiveness, then she heard Kurenai gasp.

"Oh, how did that happen?" Naruto asked and Hinata opened her eyes, glancing round…

To see herself staring back at her from the back of another Naruto, both of them not really wanting to get down.

"Good heavens…" Kurenai breathed, her gaze switching rapidly between Hinata and her unexpected clone, "I know that the Kage Bunshin technique duplicates what someone is carrying, but to duplicate an entire person?"

Hinata took advantage of Naruto's shocked stillness to lower herself to the ground, an action copied by her clone. Both girls glanced at each other, then looked down, tapping the tips of their forefingers.

"Well." Kurenai said slowly. "I see that Hinata's clone has her mannerisms… Clone Hinata, what was the last flower you pressed?"

"A bell flower." The clone replied and Hinata nodded in agreement.

"So… you have Hinata's memories too. Do you know what Naruto had for breakfast?" She asked, testing the inverse. The clone shook her head and Kurenai hmmmm'd thoughtfully.

"I've never seen this done before," She finally admitted, "But it would seem that you've somehow cloned Hinata as a by-product of cloning yourself. Even having just found out about it, I can tell you that once word spreads amongst the Jonin, you'll become the favorite support ninja in the village for A and S-ranked missions. Which means we need to keep this quiet, or enemy shinobi will target you specifically in order to stop you boosting our forces."

"…I don't get it." Naruto admitted and Kurenai sighed.

"Sit." She commanded, sinking to the ground and the others followed suit, the two Hinatas descending gracefully while the two Narutos simply flopped into a seated sprawl.

"Now, about your potential as part of a team. If you manage to learn how you cloned Hinata, you could potentially do it for an entire group at once, thus doubling their numbers. Repeat it enough times, and Konoha could field an entire army comprised purely of A and S-ranked shinobi, each at full power and with all their abilities.” She continued.

Both of them looked confused, for her to offer, “Imagine having a dozen of the Hokage all step onto the battlefield with another dozen in reserve. No enemy would choose to stay around at that point..."

"Yeah, Jiji showed me some of his skills when I was younger." Naruto agreed. "He's awesome."

"And that is why we need to keep it a secret for now." Kurenai stated. "If I can see that potential, so can Konoha's enemies and until you get strong enough to defend yourself against enemy Jonin, we need to keep this skill quiet."

"So… I can't use clones?" Naruto asked and Kurenai sighed at the proof that he had missed the point she was trying to make.

"You can use as many clones as you want, just don't clone anyone else unless they already know about it and have given permission." Kurenai stated. The two Narutos turned to look at Hinata and her clone.

"I don't mind." One of the Hinata's said quietly, for the other to offer, “Me either.”

"On the plus side, you using clones can help with your training." Kurenai added and both Narutos stared at her in incomprehension.

“Huh?” Both of them stated.

"Indeed." Kurenai said, rising. "Naruto, stay here. Clone Naruto, come with me."

Naruto watched his clone follow the Jonin towards the edge of the clearing, before they vanished into the trees, then a memory popped up in his mind. "I'm going to learn how to walk on water? Awesome!"

"How did you know that?" Kurenai called as she walked back towards him, his clone nowhere to be seen.

"You told me." Naruto said blankly, then he paused, "How? I was here, but you told me behind that tree… I don't understand…"

"I told your clone, then dispelled him," Kurenai explained as she reached them, "When you dispel a Kage Bunshin, you get back all their memories, in this case, me explaining what the first exercise for you will be..."

Naruto stared at her for a moment. "I… think I get it. So, everything they learn, I get back?"

Kurenai nodded. "Yes, but too many memories at once will hurt your brain or worse, so we'll work our way up slowly, and you will, in some cases, need to do some of it yourself..."

"I did several hundred clones when I beat up the traitor." Naruto supplied, “I can’t exactly remember any of that...”

"And how long did it take?" Kurenai offered, Naruto looking thoughtful.

"Uummmm, a few minutes?" Naruto replied, “If that...”

“The memories will have just been repetitions of the same thing, and you’d have not really noticed anything that stood out for you,” Kurenai offered, “Add to that the fact all of you were focusing on one thing… Anyway, Create four clones for now, and we’ll train with them for an hour, then dispel them. That should be fairly safe to start...”

"Yay, training!" Naruto shouted as he flipped to his feet and made the clone-seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

**Author's Note:**

> Concerning Naruto's Rank:
> 
> In canon, and it's a crying shame, he's D-Rank, maybe even worse than that. His only real ability is his skill with bunker buster jutsu like the Rasengan, and it's so one-note that it's painful, in that he doesn't really have much to back it up. He attains C, maybe even B, rank by the end, but only due to experience in the field. His actual skill level is abysmal.
> 
> In Memories, he begins at around C-Rank, then jumps to A-Rank when he learns the Hiraishin, then S-Rank when he learns the Rasengan. He's got the skills and is able to pull some amazing tricks with them. Due to him training Hinata in his family techniques, just those two _**alone**_ would make entire _armies_ quake in their boots. If him or Hinata learned the Uzumaki Chains... They'd need to invent a new ranking level.


End file.
